Skylight is David Hare’s most produced work, but news that director John Terry is taking on the Olivier award-winning play, has given the home-grown production a massive boost.

So why does John think it’s so popular? “Not just because of its size and intimate scale,” he says, “but because it manages to bring a real human tenderness and delicacy to the stage, whilst almost imperceptibly exploring huge and challenging ideas about how we live and engage with the world.

“In the first instance, it is one of those great intimate theatrical experiences that, as an audience member, you can just sink into,” John continues

“The characters are so beautifully drawn, the text so funny and so real, the setting so believable. It is hilarious at moments, and at others, deeply moving.

“I chose it now because it seems to me to be a play that asks: “can you really love someone if you fundamentally disagree with them”? It seems, in our divided age, like an incredibly crucial question.

John Terry directing Skylight

And yet it is still a risky and a costly exercise for provincial theatres to stage their own work, The Theatre Chipping Norton however excels at it.

Recent tours and transfers include The Island, Stones in His Pockets, The Kreutzer Sonata (Arcola mainhouse transfer – Critics’ Choice in The Times, The Telegraph and The Independent, nominated forseveral Off West End Awards) The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (Greenwich Theatre transfer) and Huck by James Graham. Not bad for a 214 seater theatre in The Cotswolds.

So is David Hare considered a safe bet these days? “David Hare’s forte is the fusion of ideas and politics with real, human drama,” John continues. “He creates works that are deeply and genuinely entertaining – that really deliver a good night out – but still have something to say about the world we live in,” John concludes.

And who better to play a lead role than Rosie Wyatt, who grew up in Banbury!

Rosie Wyatt

“I’m so excited to be performing so close to my hometown,” she says. It feels like a truehomecoming, as it was in Banbury that I first began performing.

“I trained at the Susan Taylor Academy of Dance and it was through my shows there that I began to do little bits of amateur dramatics. When I went to 6th form in Stratford upon Avon, and started regularly seeing shows at the RSC, that my hopes really solidified and I decided I wanted to be an actor.

“So when John Terry approached me about Skylight, I wanted to visualise what it would be like to come full circle and do a professional production here in Oxfordshire. Luckily, I fell in love with the space at The Theatre Chipping Norton straight away.

“To me, it had the feel of an old music hall and I knew there would be a strong connection between the audience and the actor.

Rosie also works with Banbury charity Let’s Play who run inclusive and accessible play opportunities for children with additional needs.

So how is Rosie feeling about being a leading lady? “I am so excited about tackling this play. It is a text that I have known for a while and I was so thrilled to be offered the role of Kyra.

“I’ve been lucky enough to perform all over the country and all over the world – New York, Australia, India, New Zealand, Hong Kong but there’s nothing more nerve-wracking than performing for people you know – I really want to get this right and I really want Oxfordshire audiences to love it.”

Skylight runs from Wednesday until September 21 at The Theatre Chipping Norton – 01608 642350 – www.chippingnortontheatre.com

It then tours to Salisbury Playhouse , Winchester Theatre Royal and Portsmouth New Theatre Royal.